A 214-acre master-planned community will soon take shape in Covington, Wash., now that Oakpointe Communities and Presidio Residential Capital have received a requisite thumbs-up for the development called LakePointe Urban Village. Covington’s City Council recently provided the joint venture partners with unanimous approval to move forward with the suburban Seattle waterfront project, which will cost $670 million to develop.

LakePointe Urban Village

With a 20-acre lake at its center, LakePointe will sprout up as a social focal-point on a site that had been home to a gravel mine and an asphalt plant. KTGY Architecture + Planning is behind the design of the development, which will ultimately feature an 850,000-square-foot regional entertainment and lifestyle center and as many as 1,500 single-family and multifamily residences.

For a town that’s 30 miles outside Seattle, LakePointe may seem like an oversized offering; but for a city that’s anticipating a substantial growth spurt, it appears that it will be a prudent addition. “Covington has grown since its incorporation from a population of 12,900 in 1998 to 18,520 in 2015 [and it] is forecast to grow nearly 50 percent to approximately 27,645 residents by 2035,” as noted in a recent city ordinance pertaining to LakePointe. “The City has had market interest and demand and there is unavoidable growth.”

LakePointe—which will also feature a 130-key hotel, a pavilion park, open space and trails—is already attracting attention. Oakpointe and Presidio are in lease discussions with a bevy of prospective tenants for the retail segment, with businesses ranging from restaurants to a multiplex theater to a gourmet grocer having expressed interest. And the partners foresee a strong need for the residential portion of the project. “The factors that are driving demand in this market are population and employment growth coupled with lack of available housing,” Harry DeMarre, director of retail development with Oakpointe Communities, told Commercial Property Executive.

Oakpointe and Presidio plan to break ground on LakePointe in early 2018.